Late Damage Hampers Mayer, Leaves Him Third At Bristol

Sam Mayer in action Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Jacob Seelman/Motorsports Hotspot photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Sam Mayer came tantalizingly close to a win and a guaranteed berth in the second round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs in Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but damage he sustained late prevented him from finishing the deal.

With 37 laps to go, Mayer was running fourth and made contact with Carson Ware in turn one while trying to lap him. Ware spun, bringing the caution out and leading to a late strategy decision.

Connor Zilisch was leading at the time, but pitted under the yellow, while Aric Almirola, Carson Kvapil, and Mayer all stayed out to preserve their track position.

Mayer restarted third and quickly got past Kvapil for second. He battled side-by-side with Almirola for the lead for several laps, but with five to go, his teammate Sheldon Creed caught him with fresher tires.

Creed got past Mayer in the final corner to claim the runner-up spot, leaving Mayer to settle for third as Almirola took the victory.

Mayer felt like if he hadn’t gotten the damage, he could have won the race.

“We were really solid today,” Mayer said afterward. “I’m really proud of everybody at Haas Factory [Team]. This Audibel Ford Mustang was certainly as fast as Xfinity mobile, and we were just a little bit short. If we didn’t get that damage, I think we could have taken it to [Almirola], but the toe was knocked in a ton, so I just had no turn there at the end.

“The final few laps after that last restart, I was just kind of holding on, but to hold on to what we had was really solid,” he continued. “I’m really proud of these guys and that’s the start of the playoffs you want to have.”

To his credit, Mayer – who led 68 laps in stage two with a dominant car at that point – knew that staying near the front would be more key at the end than fresh tires.

“That’s where experience comes in. Almirola was around back then and a lot of people that are in the series now weren’t around [to know what would happen],” he reflected. “[In] 2022, the [No.] 9 [Noah Gragson] stayed out on 90-lap tires and ended up winning the race, so that was in the back of my mind all night. I knew that if it came down to it within 90 laps [of the end], we weren’t going to come down pit road. A lot of people did and we didn’t, so I expected that. That’s exactly how I thought it would turn out.

Sam Mayer (Jacob Seelman/Motorsports Hotspot photo)

“I think the end of the race, if you watch back-to-back 2022 and 2025, they look exactly the same and that’s why we made our decision. … It’s all in the details. You don’t want to tune yourself out and you also want to pay attention to history, because history always repeats itself, especially at a crazy place like this. We have lots to be proud of. We did our job today and we had a shot at the win.

“If we didn’t get damage, we probably would have been in victory lane right now, but we have a lot to be proud of.”

When Creed caught him in the closing laps, Mayer debated whether he should let him go or try to hold onto second in case Almirola made a mistake.

“Part of me was like, if I let [Creed] go, he's on better tires and has a shot at the win and can give the company a win. But then the other part of me was like, if [Almirola] slips and I’m right there, I can get the win,” Mayer said.

“It's a little bit of selfish versus team-based playing, but seeing a different car going to victory lane, I probably would have played it a little differently. You’re just trying to give it all you have every single lap, and there's no lift, and you're going to go and try to do it. It just didn’t work out for us today.”

Even though he just missed an automatic berth to the next round, Mayer sits third in the updated point standings, 35 above the cut line and where he wants to be for what’s ahead.

“Kansas is one of those places that kind of fits my driving style. We were really, really good at Homestead at the start of the year,” Mayer noted. “We could have won that one, I felt like, if things went a little differently, so I would say that Kansas is pretty similar just because you run the wall there a little bit as well, so it can be a fun one.

“It’s one that I enjoy going to and Haas was really good there last year, so hopefully we can go and lock ourselves in the Round of 8.”

The next race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 27 Coverage airs at 4 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.